Houston students knew of mom murder plot

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Published
12:00 am CST, Friday, January 8, 2010

Danish Moazzam Minhas' plan to hire a classmate to kill his mother for $4,000 may not have been a complete secret on the campus of Lee High School, where he was a popular student who read the morning announcements, homicide detectives said on Thursday.

Several current and former students told police they knew of the plot but apparently did not take it seriously enough to report it before the 43-year-old woman was stabbed to death Nov. 25, investigators said.

"Some have come forward and said they knew about the plan after it happened," Houston police Sgt. Brian Harris said. "Some knew about it beforehand, which always amazes me because you kind of wonder about their moral compass."

Minhas, 17, was charged with capital murder Wednesday along with 18-year-old Nur Mohamed, who is accused of stabbing Tabassum Khan more than three dozen times during a midmorning home invasion.

Harris said some students were talking to investigators to deal with their "sin of silence," while others did not take the threat seriously.

No other arrests are expected in connection with the slaying, he said.

Because both teens have passports and family in far-flung countries, they will remain in jail without bail, state District Judge Jim Wallace ruled Thursday.

Both youths appeared in orange jail uniforms as they listened to prosecutor Connie Spence detail the allegations against them.

Spence said Minhas lied to Mohamed, telling him that Khan was a foster parent who treated him badly.

No death penalty for son

Detectives earlier said Mohamed told them Minhas had offered him $4,000 to kill his mother, but he only received $1,000.

"I'm not sure if the two defendants realize the permanency of what has been done," Spence said after the brief hearing.

"I don't know if it's because of their youth or being naive, I'm not sure the gravity of what has happened has fully hit them."

Prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty for the 17-year-old Minhas and have yet to decide whether to pursue it against Mohamed, Spence said.

Mohamed's attorney, Gerald Bourque, said he had not spoken to the youth about the facts of the case because he had not seen the evidence against his client.

Bob Scott, who represents Minhas, said he also had not seen any evidence in the case.

Extra counselors

At Lee, school officials brought in extra counselors to help students cope with the possibility of sitting next to killers in Spanish class.

None of the students interviewed by the Houston Chronicle on Thursday said they had heard of the alleged murder-for-hire plot before the pair were arrested.

"Its kind of strange," said Miguel Rodriguez, 18. "Nobody thought it could come to that."

He said he knew both teens: Minhas was a popular and outgoing student who made good grades, and Mohamed was a high-achieving student until he got to high school, where some students said he became a troublemaker.

'Latte every morning'

Nancy Morataya, 16, also knew both young men. She said Minhas balanced popularity while "hitting the books."

She was surprised by the allegations against Mohamed.

"He was a troublemaker, but I didn't think would kill somebody," she said.

Haya Batniji, a 17-year-old, said she was angry that her school is the focus of a murder investigation because of Minhas.

She said he had an ideal life.

"On the outside, he had everything you could want," she said. "He had a nice car and a latte every morning."